When No. 2/3 Boston University men’s hockey freshman defenseman Brandon Fortunato left the puck behind the goal line to his fellow classmate, forward Jack Eichel, the University of Maine presented the North Chelmsford native with a golden opportunity. In the midst of a Black Bears line change during a BU power play in the middle of overtime, Maine gave the freshman open space down the left side of the ice.
And that was all Eichel needed.
Freshman Jack Eichel’s overtime goal lifted BU over the University of Maine on Friday night.
PHOTO BY MAYA DEVEREAUX/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
The forward sped from his own red line down that left side of the ice, cut through the neutral zone and weaved around a Maine (3-8-1, 2-4-0 Hockey East) defenseman. As he made it to the top of the left circle, Eichel did not make another move around a second defender — he shot the puck.
His quick wrister through a screen beat Black Bears goaltender Sean Romeo high glove-side at the 2:40 mark, giving the Terriers (7-1-1, 5-1-1 Hockey East) a come-from-behind, 3-2 win at Agganis Arena Friday night.
Eichel said the setup for the goal was nothing new for him and the power-play unit, although the results might have been better than expected. The goal did end a 0-for-3 man-advantage drought.
“We were on the power play, that’s our breakout and I tried to pick up the puck with speed,” Eichel said after the game. “I saw that their team was changing, tried to build a little bit of momentum and they kind of backed off me and I tried to use the defenseman as a screen. Luckily, it beat the goalie.”
When asked about the goal after the game, Maine coach Red Gendron wasn’t at all surprised about Eichel’s end-to-end play. After all, the freshman, according to Gendron, should be in a whole other league above college hockey.
“Okay, let’s tell the truth. It’s my humble opinion that Jack Eichel, if he were old enough, could be playing in the National Hockey League right now,” Gendron said. “And there were times in Orono and there were times tonight where he’s pretty tough to stop. And that’s why people are talking about him being potentially the very first pick in the draft or maybe the second, he’s a special player.”
Eichel’s “special” play didn’t start with the overtime goal, though. At the start of the third period, he set up the BU rally that made overtime possible. As with the previous three Friday contests, the Terriers found themselves down on the scoreboard, this time 2-0.
A little under five minutes into the final frame, Eichel skated in on the initial rush and drew the Maine defense toward him. As he did the week prior up at Alfond Arena, Eichel dished a pass across to the right side. This time it was not junior forward Danny O’Regan who scored on the play, but junior winger Ahti Oksanen.
Oksanen finished the play with a one-time chance, but credited the goal to the efficient passing of his teammates.
“Great pass from Danny to Eichel and Eichel just found me backdoor,” Oksanen said. “I basically had an empty net, so it wasn’t too hard. Great pass from him.”
The Oksanen goal cut the Black Bear lead in half to 2-1 and it also etched Eichel’s name further into the BU hockey history books. The assist extended his point streak to nine consecutive games to start the season, something that hadn’t been pulled off by a Terrier since Frantisek Sklandany did it in 2001-02.
The helper in the third and his goal in overtime now gives Eichel 17 points in nine games played, good for 1.89 points per game — an NCAA-best. Even with all of the impressive accolades the freshman has accomplished this year, BU coach David Quinn kept his sentiments after the game about Eichel simple and to the point: He’s just glad the forward is not wearing another uniform.
“I think Jack Eichel is one hell of a hockey player,” Quinn said, “and I’m just glad he’s playing at BU right now.”
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